Can't help but feel like I'm shortchanging Black Panther (A-) with that grade, since BP's a tighter, more cohesive film (which I tend to prefer). But the ambition and buildup behind Infinity War counts for a lot.

Unlike you guys, I found the comedy overbearing a few times. The quip that worked best was the Wakandan general very briefly saying she'd hoped that opening the country up would just result in the Olympics and Starbucks and the like, but IMO much of the humor was lengthier and more forced than that.

Thanos is the best MCU villain, even with very little setup (arguably anti-setup, since an early appearance foreshadowed him "courting Death," meaning the writers must have decided on the change in motivation later). His rather powerful henchmen (as far as I remember) have no setup in the other movies, and most of them seem to simply exist as a "match" for an established hero (brute, wizard, chick with spear). I give them points for never having a hero win a simple boring fight with their counterpart (Hulk loses to power-gem-enchanced Thanos and can't even face the evil brute, the evil wizard appears genuinely more powerful than Dr. Strange, and it takes three heroines to stand up to the henchwoman). For the most part, the henchmen have to be countered by (multiple) differently-powered heros, reinforcing the "team" aspect.

Not sure the Onion (completely) intended it, but that's biting satire of any media outlet that insist on shoehorning ideological horseshit into every facet of their entertainment coverage. If that were a real article, imagine how hard everyone (except for the most hardcore zealots) would roll their eyes while reading it.

I wonder how this movie would hold up as a standalone feature. It seemed like there was a lot of continuity lockout with all the references to previous installments.

I'm gonna say not well at all. Black Panther is the MCU movie for people who checked out of the MCU long ago (and conversely, BP is fine to skip before IW if you're otherwise caught up). I took a friend who'd stayed away from the MCU since Winter Soldier to Black Panther and he liked it, but wouldn't take him to IW without assigning some homework first.

While he certainly isn't the only black person in the movie, having Heimdall be the first name casualty means this movie did kill the black guy first.

The black guy also died last. SUBVERTED.

My expectations going in were that Tony Stark was a dead man walking (the character with by far the most past exposure with major potential emotional impact in his death . . . and the most expensive actor), and Spiderman was nigh untouchable (the face of a brand new hero franchise ready to make bank for two studios, and an actor already under contract for six films). So in the moment, I enjoyed both those twists . . .

. . . though after reflecting for a bit, it's kinda cheap. If any death should convince you that the "dissolvings" were done arbitrarily (and will be undone almost as arbitrarily), Spiderman's should. I dunno, maybe it's a good thing to telegraph the eventual reversal by obviously going too far. Tony's recovery is harder to justify . . . he was impaled and then patched up the hole (on only one side?) like it was just a flesh wound. The nano-suit is an upgrade, but this doesn't make sense unless it's sporting Wakandan magic. Is the nano-suit Wakandan? I don't think it is (no glowing blue highlights).

I know I'm mostly complaining but I really had a blast, and there's less to say about what I loved. The imax screening was booked solid, but I'll be seeing it there too as soon as it's less crowded. I wonder if most folks will want to see an ending like that more than once; expect Infinity War's opening weekend to beat Black Panther's, but in subsequent weeks it'll be tough to hold up as well BP has.

So where does it go from here? I think we can assume that the dissolves will all be undone. There are already a Spiderman and GotG movies on the schedule. They would also be insane to not have a Black Panther movie in the works. Do we think that all dissolves will be undone?

What about the other deaths? Are all those permanent? Loki, Heimdall, Valkyrie, Korg, Gamora, Vision? Most of those I dont think can be taken back without cheapening things. They will already cheapen things by taking back all the dissolves. Since we didn't necessarily see confirmation of Valkyrie and Korg, I can see how they could come back (especially since a case could be made that they could survive in space). I'm really sad about Loki, but I guess I can deal with it as they move into a new phase. I really wish we could have Gamora back, though.

Doctor Strange looked at all the possible futures and only saw one in which the good guys prevailed. He likely saw that it was necessary to keep Tony alive for that.

In the comics, Nebula had something to do with stopping Thanos after he got all the Infinity Stones. She's still around. And she's full of cybernetics. So is Black Panther's genius sister (I'm terrible at remembering the names in Wakanda). I feel like these things will be connected.

Logged

I'm not particularly religious, and I don't really like Muppets, but I do love word play.

Doctor Strange looked at all the possible futures and only saw one in which the good guys prevailed. He likely saw that it was necessary to keep Tony alive for that.

I was hoping that later Strange would say that he lied, there was no future he saw where they won.

While the movie does do a lot differently than the comics, I think they will keep the part where Nebula gets the gauntlet and undoes the events of Infinity War. Especially since they kept the torture that Thanos did to her.

What about the other deaths? Are all those permanent? Loki, Heimdall, Valkyrie, Korg, Gamora, Vision? Most of those I dont think can be taken back without cheapening things. They will already cheapen things by taking back all the dissolves.

I'd argue Gamora's resurrection could be completely justified, but it's the only one.

She was sacrificed to obtain the soul gem, so let's say her intact soul is stored inside it. You can get her back by destroying ("sacrificing") the gem for good. I'd accept that.

I'd love to see that. Now let's see... I just saw Infinity War again today and... god dammit, the same thing happened on opening night. Some asshole actually had the gall to take out their cell phone and started texting on it during the damn movie. Last time I was kinder by saying "Please put that away", but today, I was a little more curt, I said to this girl "You need to put that away.". I have no regrets, plus, I hate conflict but I guess when it comes to movies where inconsiderate morons take out their phones and start using them as if they are in the privacy of their own rooms, then I get a bit snippy. Believe me, there have been times where I've wanted to just grab their phone, take it away from them and smash it under my foot. However, as somebody who tries to actively avoid any kind of trouble, that's simply an option only for the world of fantasy.

So, who survived? Let's see, in no particular order: Iron man, Nebula, Captain America, Hulk/Banner, Black Widow, Thor, War Machine, Rocket, and... that's about it! Even with the power of Captain Marvel, I'd say facing Thanos with those odds are pretty slim and kind of grim. I just wish Maria Hill and Nick Fury didn't have to go too.

I'm guessing Tony and Nebula will get a hold of the Milano(Or whatever is the name of their newest ship)on Titan, fix it up and try to fly it back to Earth so they can rendezvous with the other Avengers. I'm... wondering if somehow seeing how useless fighting is that they'll try and get in touch with the Living Tribunal to try and render the Infinity Stones powerless. If anyone's going to know how to get in touch with any of the other celestial beings, it's the guardians of the Sanctum.

I'm sorry that my post seems to be all over the place but I just have a lot of mixed feelings, especially when I get pushed to the edge where I feel like a bit of my cinematic experience is going to be ruined... again.

I'd love to see that. Now let's see... I just saw Infinity War again today and... god dammit, the same thing happened on opening night. Some asshole actually had the gall to take out their cell phone and started texting on it during the damn movie. Last time I was kinder by saying "Please put that away", but today, I was a little more curt, I said to this girl "You need to put that away.". I have no regrets, plus, I hate conflict but I guess when it comes to movies where inconsiderate morons take out their phones and start using them as if they are in the privacy of their own rooms, then I get a bit snippy. Believe me, there have been times where I've wanted to just grab their phone, take it away from them and smash it under my foot. However, as somebody who tries to actively avoid any kind of trouble, that's simply an option only for the world of fantasy.

So, who survived? Let's see, in no particular order: Iron man, Nebula, Captain America, Hulk/Banner, Black Widow, Thor, War Machine, Rocket, and... that's about it! Even with the power of Captain Marvel, I'd say facing Thanos with those odds are pretty slim and kind of grim. I just wish Maria Hill and Nick Fury didn't have to go too.

One of the worst parts of ushering at Sundance is having to manage the cell phone usage. So many people are so entitled and get so offended that you dare to tell them what to do. There are many super movie buffs that go there that deserve to have a great experience free from cell phones.

Also, regarding the survivals, its interesting that all the original Avengers survived. It doesn't feel that way since so many people died.